Be Nice to Your Boss to Get Ahead

A good relationship with your boss will help you if you're aiming to climb the company ladder. On the other hand bad blood between you and the boss can be a big drag on ambition, according to a huge survey of firms in countries all over the world.

A good relationship with your boss will help you if you're aiming to climb the company ladder. On the other hand bad blood between you and the boss can be a big drag on ambition, according to a huge survey of firms in countries all over the world.

If you want to get ahead then you must get along with the person in charge; this is the 'Don Draper Effect' - an apparent key ingredient to long-term workplace success. The 'Don Draper Effect' says a strong bond with your boss will help your career; like Peggy Olson and Don Draper in TV hit 'Mad men'.

In the cult show, Peggy Olson's character, a bookish secretary, rises through the ranks because of her strong working relationship with main character Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm.

The survey by recruitment company Futurestep found relationships with fellow workers came next in the get-ahead survey of 1,500 companies across five continents.

Fourteen per cent of people asked said this was the most important part of career progress, while only eight per cent put brains as the biggest decider; suggesting you don't need smarts to move up in the world. How you get on with your boss also topped intellect as one of the most important competencies for promotion. So keeping in with the manager is more likely to get you a better salary.

"In the world of work you are hired for what you know and fired for who you are," the Daily Mail quoted CEO Byrne Mulrooney as saying.

"Cultural fit and personal relationships are critical factors as you rise up the corporate ladder, actually much more so than technical expertise. And of course, the bonds forged with one's boss and upper management play a lead role in career advancement," he added.

British workers were labelled "decision-makers and results-focused'' in the survey, while the French were described as 'individualists'. Germans were known as 'commanders' and Australians were 'doers'. Brazillian workers were 'strategists'; the Chinese were 'hard workers' and nearby Hong Kong workers have 'shrewd timing'.